


a place i once called home

by bayaningbituon



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Pre-Schitt's Creek, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21740167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayaningbituon/pseuds/bayaningbituon
Summary: Alexis sits down at the foot of his bed, facing away from him. “Don’t freak out, okay?” she says, and before he can snap at her to just get to the point, she lifts the back of her shirt.She lifts the back of her shirt, and there are symbols there where bare skin should be.She lifts the back of her shirt, and there are Chinese symbols there where bare skin should be.David’s hands fly up to either side of his face as he stares at her lower back in horror. “Oh my god, Alexis, what the actual fuck?”She turns to look at him and protests, “I said don’t freak out!”David flails his hands, as if the movement could release some of the shock and horror coursing through his body. “You are twelve years old!” he yells. “How on earth did you even get through the door?”orFive times David takes care of Alexis and one time Alexis takes care of David.
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose
Comments: 44
Kudos: 141
Collections: Schitt's Creek Open Fic Night 2.0





	a place i once called home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hullomoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hullomoon/gifts).



> I really fucking loved this prompt, hullomoon, so I really hope you enjoy this fic! The first story was just a fluff portion from my own imagination but all other stories are based on actual stories from their past that they have mentioned on the show. I have so many feelings about David and Alexis's connection and their love for each other and I was just so inspired to write about it. This is the longest fic I've ever written and I am so proud of it! 
> 
> Thank you so so much to my friend [Elle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellefromtumblr/pseuds/ellefromtumblr) for beta-ing this fic and really honing my Alexis. She's the expert on Alexis and I am so thankful for all of her help!
> 
> Also, yes, the title is a Noah Reid lyric because I can't fucking stop myself.

**One.**

Alexis Rose: 5 years old | David Rose: 8 years old

The door creaks open, a sliver of light shining into the otherwise dark room. On the bed, a lump under the covers shifts at the disturbance.

“David?” a small, tremulous voice asks from the gap in the door.

David’s eyes open a smidge, squinting in the darkness at the sound. “Alexis?” he mumbles, face still half buried under his comforter.

The door opens wider, and a small figure darts into the room, the pitter-patter of bare feet against the hardwood floor waking David even further. “Daaay-vid,” Alexis cries.

David sits up, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the sudden influx of light and sound. “Mmm, what?” he asks, yawning. His eyes, crusty and still laden with sleep, squints at his sister. He rubs them, hating that feeling of the jagged texture against the inner corner of his eyes. 

“David, Mary-Kate told me today that a ghost followed us back from the Gap shoot, and that it really hated me!”

At this, he rolls his eyes in annoyance, at both Mary-Kate for being so jealous of Alexis that she had to make up that story, and at his sister for believing it. “Alexis,” he sighs impatiently, “that’s not real.”

Alexis flips her hair—a move he recognizes from his mother on her more dramatic days—and says huffily, “I _know_ that David, but then the lights stopped working and I was calling Adelina and she didn’t _come_ and there was this noise—”

David waves his hand to stop her tirade. “Adelina is asleep at home, Alexis! She stopped living here once you turned five. Because she thought you could sleep on your own. I guess she was wrong.”

She stomps her foot and whines, “Day-viiiiid!”

David eyes her rumpled figure, the tear tracks on her eyes and pout on her face, and feels a tug in his chest. He acquiesces. “Fine,” he says, pulling the covers back on his bed. “But only for tonight, Alexis!”

Alexis immediately brightens, wiping the tears from her face. “Yay David!” she cheers, clapping her hands in glee. She pulls the tiny stepstool from beneath his bed and climbs each step, one at a time in that dainty princess way that makes David smile.

Once she was laying in bed, David tucks her in, settling the comforter around her tiny shoulders. Alexis wiggles happily underneath the blanket. He wipes the remnants of the tears from her face, pats her blonde hair a couple of times, and then settles in beside her. 

Underneath the covers, his hand finds hers. Alexis grips his hand back, and then shifts closer, a small furnace clinging to him in comfort. David strokes her hair again and again, an unconscious gesture of comfort as he clings back. 

He falls asleep like this, warm and content and feeling not-alone for the first time in a long time.

* * *

  
**Two.**

_“That was low, like David’s standards.”_

_“Or the placement of Alexis’s back tattoo.”_

_“Alexis has a back tattoo?”_

_“Alexis, what have you done to yourself?”_

_“It says ‘that’s hot’ in Cantonese. Got it in Hong Kong.”_

_“Ugh! I was twelve years old!”_

Alexis Rose: 12 years old | David Rose: 15 years old

David considers the reflection in the mirror, and scoops a little more pomade on his fingers to tease into his hair. He wants to go for a windswept sort of look, something effortless and chic, but it still looks a little flat. _Maybe a different product_ , he thinks to himself as he looks at the directions on the pomade jar, before he drops it in shock at the sound of his door slamming wide open.

“David!” Alexis squeals, rushing up to him and poking him repeatedly on the shoulder.

David swerves away from the insistent fingers and whirls around to glare at his sister. “Um, can you _knock_ , maybe?”

Alexis sits with a huff on his desk. “Sorry, David! But it’s just, like, an emergency, and I don’t think knocking is really _necessary_ in an emergency.”

David rolls his eyes at the mention of _emergency_ and bends down to pick up the fallen jar. “Ugh, fine, what is it? I didn’t even think you were back yet, from...where was your shoot? Hong Kong?”

“Yeah, um, I just got off the plane,” Alexis replies, distractedly picking at her curls.

David waves his hands in the air, trying to get her attention. “And you rushed back here, barged into my room...why?”

She looks at him, biting her lip in uncertainty. She fiddles once more with her hair, before gesturing with her limp-wristed hands in his direction. “Okay, fine, David, but you have to promise not to tell mom and dad!”

“Do I ever tell them _anything_?” he asks her, nonplussed. He can count on one hand the number of times he’s ever voluntarily told them a single thing about his life.

“Well, you might tell them _this,_ ” she says, “and honestly David? I’m not interested in their opinion.”

“Oh my god, Alexis, what? What’s wrong?” David asks, mind now spiraling as to what the issue is.

“Promise me, David,” she demands, eyes glaring intensely—or as intensely as Alexis’s eyes can go, which is more of a twitch than a true glare.

“Ugh, fine,” David rolls his eyes. “I promise. Now, what is it?”

Alexis sits down at the foot of his bed, facing away from him. “Don’t freak out, okay?” she says, and before he can snap at her to just get to the point, she lifts the back of her shirt.

She lifts the back of her shirt, and there are _symbols_ there where bare skin should be.

She lifts the back of her shirt, and there are _Chinese symbols_ there where bare skin should be.

David’s hands fly up to either side of his face as he stares at her lower back in horror. “Oh my god, Alexis, what the actual fuck?”

She turns to look at him and protests, “I said don’t freak out!”

David flails his hands, as if the movement could release some of the shock and horror coursing through his body. “You are twelve years old!” he yells. “How on earth did you even get through the door?”

Alexis rolls her eyes and waves his question away airily. “I had a fake I.D. and like, honestly, they didn’t really care.”

David’s head twitches to the side at that, and he asks breathlessly, “Why do you even have a fake I.D.?”

“Ugh, David, it’s not that big of a deal.”

David feels a scream building in his chest at her unruffled nonchalance, and swallows it back down with valiant effort. In as even of a voice that he can muster, he asks, “If it’s not a big deal, then why are you showing it to me?”

Alexis fidgets with something in her purse as she replies, “I can’t reach the tattoo, okay? I’m supposed to like, put stuff on it or something. So can you do that, _please_?” She takes out a container of cream and holds it out to him expectantly.

He takes a deep breath.

In.

Out. 

_It’s too late now to change anything, David_ , a voice in his head says, sounding very much like his new therapist, Abner. _You have to let go of what you have no control over, and worry about what you do have control over._

He grabs the tube from her and sits down next to her. “Fine, just, stay still,” he says, lifting the shirt higher so that he could get a clearer view of the tattoo.

The tattoo. On the lower back of his twelve-year old little sister.

He takes another deep breath. Lets it out. 

And does it again for good measure, because _twelve years old_.

“The bandage is still on this tattoo,” he tells her with pressed lips. “Did you get it right before you hopped on the plane?”

She shimmies her shoulders and replies, “Yes, David, but it was fine. Can you just put the cream on?”

“Okay, but since it’s so new, I have to wash and dry it before I put the cream,” he says, remembering the tattoo care lessons he got from his ex-boyfriend Aaron. Aaron, with the stick-and-poke tattoos and the beginning of a sleeve tattoo, who was always looking for ways to mark his skin with ink. Aaron, who was nineteen and had to leave for college, who told David he was heartbroken for breaking it off but it was for the best. 

He shakes his head to dispel the memories and stands. “Hold on, okay?” he says, walking into his bathroom. He turns the faucet on and lets the water run along his fingers until it was just lukewarm. He fills a bowl with the water, grabs a couple of washcloths and soap, and heads back into his room.

He sits down, balancing the bowl of water gently beside him, and slowly peels the bandage off the tattoo. He dips one of the washcloths in the water, adds some soap, and softly strokes it against the slightly reddened skin.

“What does this even mean?” he asks, concentrating on the task before him.

“It means ‘that’s hot’ in Cantonese,” she says with a delighted little shoulder shake.

David has to pause at that, closing his eyes in disbelief. “Oh my god, why?”

Alexis shrugs as if getting a tattoo that says _that’s hot_ is a completely normal thing to do. “It’s like, the first thing I learned in Cantonese. Our guide there was _also_ a Paris fan, and she was _so_ excited to know that I like, lunch with Paris, and it became like, a bonding moment or whatever.” She punctuates each syllable of _whatever_ with a shoulder twist, like some kind of slow shimmy. “So I thought it would be like, a cool momento.”

David resumes cleaning the tattooed area, using the other end of the wet washcloth to wash away the soap. “Well a, it’s actually _memento_ and not _momento_ , and b, if you don’t know that, you really have no business getting a tattoo.”

“Ugh David, you’re such a snooze! And I’m not planning on getting another one anyways. I had to sit in that little chair for like, way too long, and I’m not about that life. Meg had to run back and forth so many times to like, get me magazines and bubble tea and stuff.”

“Well, there’s that at least,” David mutters to himself as he takes the other washcloth to pat the area dry. 

“But,” she says, waving her hands excitedly, “I think Paris got a belly-button piercing, and like, I love that journey for me!”

“Dear god,” he groans. Alexis rambles on about piercings and her next holiday before starting high school in Switzerland, and all the while, David applies the cream on her slightly inflamed skin, fingers forever gentle.

* * *

  
**Three.**

_“It’s just a checkpoint, okay? I’ve been through tons of these in Johannesburg._ _Um, it’s like a drive-through, except everybody has a gun.”_

_“When were you in Johannesburg?”_

_“I don’t know. I remember I just got my braces off, so—”_

_“You were fourteen in South Africa?!”_

Alexis Rose: 14 years old | David Rose: 18 years old

David feels so light, lighter than air. It feels as if the very air around him is thrumming. He takes another drink from his cup of who-knows-what, some horrific cocktail that Kate had concocted, but instead of tasting like swill, it tastes like ambrosia—like sweet freshness, the perfect drink to soothe his parched throat.

It’s not just his drink either. The air seems cleaner and crisper, the colors more vivid, and everything filters through his mind through a dream-like lens. 

_Is this what being happy is like?_

All the anxiety seems to have melted off his shoulders, all the _what-if’s_ and _I’m not good enough’s_ and the _where is Alexis_ ’ _s_ —vanished into thin air. He feels a laugh bubble up in his chest, and he lets it out because why not? The world is a wonder and for once, he wants to feel like a wonder too.

The room feels warm, warmer than usual, so he unzips his hoodie and shrugs it off. Beside him, Kate laughs, a bright ringing sound in his ear, before she nuzzles closer, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Her hands fumble clumsily at the edge of his shirt, and she licks and kisses the edge of his clavicle, giggling all the while. 

David, for once, does not stop to think about what he should be doing or where his hands should be. He gives in to the sensations, sharp and resonant in his mind. His skin feels so sensitive, and every touch makes him feel like he’s flying. 

Beside him, Josh stirs, petting David’s hair softly. He takes a deep breath from the lit blunt in his hand, before grasping David’s chin and drawing his face close. David’s eyes flutter close and his mouth opens, inhaling the cloying smoke within his lungs. His eyes slowly blink open, and he shares a giddy laugh with Josh, exhaling the smoke.

Kate’s fingers explore his stomach, a light tickle as she continues to bite and suck on his neck. Josh leans forward and kisses him, a languid and messy kiss of tongue and teeth as he grasps David by the back of the neck, his fingers stroking the nape of his neck.

David can only describe what is happening to him as _euphoria._

The dreamy, lethargic atmosphere on the couch, however, is interrupted by the sudden loud chiming of his phone. _A Little Bit Alexis_ starts playing, the autotune twang of his little sister’s voice cutting through the silence.

David breaks away from Josh’s kiss with a whine, fumbling for his phone in his abandoned hoodie. He suddenly regrets changing the ringtone for his sister as a joke; nothing kills the mood faster than a little sister’s autotuned monstrosity of a song. 

Finally he manages to find the phone and brings it up to his face, glaring blearily at the screen. He answers it and brings it to his ear, stuttering out “H-Hello?” as Kate’s fingers quest downward, running up and down his thigh.

“David?” Alexis’s voice asks, tinny through the phone.

“Alexis? Whatsup?” he replies sluggishly, syllables blending together.

“David, why do you sound like that?” she asks, concerned.

David rolls his eyes at her concern. He feels the absolute best he’s ever felt; there is nothing to worry about. “I-I’m in the middle of something, can you hurry it up? Thanks so much.”

Kate detaches herself from his neck at David’s inattention and gestures at the phone. “David, can you get off the phone? We still have a line of coke to do, and, _other things_ too,” she says with a smirk, stroking her nail-polished finger on his thigh.

David lets out a shaky exhale and covers the microphone on the phone. “Yeah, hold on,” he tells her, before uncovering the microphone and replying to Alexis. “What was it, Alexis?”

Alexis replies casually, “Can you, send me a fake passport, like asap? I need the name to match the name I gave these Johannesburg checkpoint officers, or otherwise I can’t leave the country.” Her voice is cool and confident, as if that last sentence uttered was completely and totally normal and not completely batshit and terrifying.

But they were terrifying, and those sentences feel like a bucket of ice water pouring down his back. He sits up, alarmed, dislodging both Kate and Josh’s questing hands. “What? Oh my god, oh my god, what?” he shrieks, fumbling to put on his hoodie. 

He feels as though he is tumbling through the room, even though he is sitting still. His head is spinning, the transition from euphoria to sheer panic sending him through a tailspin. His skin feels tingly, the colors and sounds still seem brighter and sharper than they ever had, but now those things are just adding to his alarm.

“Calm down, David” Alexis replies sharply. “It’s not that big a deal, just sent it, like now, please. I used the name Angelica Hope Martell, nationality USA.”

David manages to put on his hoodie, and grabs the keys from the coffee table in front of him. Josh’s hands continue to wander, unconcerned about the phone call, while Kate fumbles for his phone. “David, hang up!” Kate whines. 

David twists his torso to keep the phone from her grasp, and untangles himself from their questing hands. “No, no nope, sorry, gotta go.”

Josh startles at David’s movement and looks up at him with reddened eyes. “Wait, what? Where are you going?” he asks in a blank tone of voice.

David ignores the question and heads for the door, fingers clenched on the phone. “Alexis, what the fuck have you gotten yourself into?”

“Chill, David!” Alexis says in a high-pitched voice. “It’s just that there are a lot of checkpoints in Johannesburg and _everyone_ knows you’re not supposed to give your real name when they ask you.”

David shakes his head in frustration, which makes him stumble woozily as his head throbs. “Why-why are you even in Johannesburg? Why are you not in _Switzerland_ , in school like you’re supposed to be?”

“It’s like, their version of spring break, David, so I just went on a little trip. So, the passport?”

David finally exits the house and breathes in a deep sigh of fresh air, free of the clogging smoke of the house behind him. “Yeah, fine,” he replies, the fresh air having calmed him slightly, “send me the details. The spelling, the address, whatever.”

“Yay, thank you David!” Alexis cheers, and her _yay_ sends a pang of wistfulness through him.

David ignores that feeling, ignores the tears that have sprung in his eyes, and heads towards the car. “Do you need cash too?”

“Um, probably? Just like, a couple thousand dollars.”

“Fine, I’ll wire it to you tonight. Text me the details, text me when you get the money, text me tomorrow, text me—”

“Ugh, chill out David, I’m fine!”

David reaches the car and knocks on the door to signal his driver. As the back door unlocks and he climbs in, he fumes in a worried anger at her through the phone. “No, Alexis, you’re _not_ fine. You are in Johannesburg giving out fake names to checkpoint officers and now you need a fake passport. _Nothing_ about that is fine. I’m hanging up now. You’ve officially ruined my buzz and now I have to go talk to my ex about a fake passport.”

Alexis lets out an understanding hum at his reply and says, “You needed to talk to Vern anyways. You need like, closure, or whatever, and also she still has your Rick Owens hoodie.”

David rolls his eyes as the driver pulls away from Josh’s house. She had a point, but he would never admit that to her. “Okay, _your_ advice is the _last_ advice I need. Lay low at your hotel, text me, and _be careful_ , okay?”

“Ugh, fine, okay.”

“Okay, goodbye.”

“Bye, David,” she trills cheerfully and hangs up.

He brings the phone back down to his lap and leans back against the cool leather seats of the car with his eyes closed. Breathing through the terror running in his veins and the spinning lightheadedness from his high, he stays like this for a moment more, before opening his eyes with a determined expression. “Fabio,” he croaks, “take me to the Carter mansion. I have a meeting with Vern.”

He sends a harried text to Vern to expect him, and then leans back again, taking deep breaths and trying not spiral, trying not to worry, trying to ignore the furious beating of his heart, the ice in his veins...the vision of his sister trapped in Johannesburg alone.

_In._

_Out._

_In._

_Out._

Trying and completely and utterly failing.

* * *

  
**Four.**

_“Look at you all dressed up, Mr. Sporty Spice.”_

_“Uh, yeah, I’m dressed for the run that we’re supposed to be going on,_ _but I don’t think you can run in those.”_

_“Tell that to me at twenty-one, escaping the yakuza.”_

Alexis Rose: 21 years old | David Rose: 25 years old

David sighs despondently, scrolling through his phone as he sips his matcha bubble tea. He was so close, _so close_ , to seeing the cherry blossoms. The tour guide had told him that he had missed them by _two days_.

Two fucking days.

He had been ready to go back to New York, when out of the blue Alexis had asked to meet him at Tokyu Plaza Ginza, near one of the noodle places he had gone to for lunch earlier today.

He hadn’t even known that she was in Japan. 

He never knows where Alexis is. He just hears about it when she’s home for the holidays or when she’s calling him at 4 a.m. for some emergency cash or colored contact lenses. The distance between them now seems canyon-deep, and a part of him—a part of him he tries to suppress because to linger in those thoughts seemed both too futile and sad even for him—wishes that he could just go back to the beginning, when she was scared of ghosts and wanted to sleep in his bed for safety and comfort. 

He hasn’t felt secure about her safety in a very long time.

He shakes his head as if to shake those thoughts away, and takes a hearty sip of his bubble tea. He checks the time on his phone again—roughly past three, thirty minutes past when Alexis had asked to meet him, and sighs in annoyance. _Of course she’s late_ , he thinks to himself, when suddenly she appears at his elbow, hooking her arm with his quickly and yanking him away.

David startles at her sudden appearance and yelps, “Alexis, jesus!” His eyes rove over her tall, lanky form, taller still in bright white stiletto heels. He doesn’t see anything particularly wrong with her, except for her wild eyes and teeth gritted into a fake smile. 

Something inside him clenches with worry, and he drops his bubble tea in the trash as they walk past, using his free hand to hold her hand in comfort. Her nails digging into his hand betray her unease, and he rubs his thumb comfortingly against the back of her hand. 

“Act natural, don’t look behind us, okay?”

Naturally, at the demand, David starts to turn his head towards her to look behind them.

Alexis boops his nose and uses her finger to turn his head back around to face forward. “You literally just did the _opposite_ of what I said, David!” She sighs impatiently and drags him abruptly to the right into a brightly lit clothing shop.

David lets out a grunt of surprise at the change in their trajectory and protests, “What are we even doing?”

She boops him again on the nose, a gesture so familiar that he doesn’t even flinch, and then grabs his Givenchy beanie from his head and shoves it over her blond waves. “I’m gonna take your hat—”

“Wait, why—” 

“—and your sunglasses,” Alexis continues, snatching his Tom Ford sunglasses from his face and shoving them over her wide eyes.

David looks around shiftily for suspicious figures, then shoves Alexis in a secluded corner near the fitting rooms. He grasps her by the shoulder and looks into her eyes—as far as he could tell, anyways, considering she had on his sunglasses. “Alexis,” he says sternly, trying to channel Adelina’s steel core, “what the fuck is going on?”

Alexis pouts and pulls at her ears in stress. “It’s nothing, David! It’s just that I may have slept with like, a yakuza mobster’s son—”

“What?” David yelps, flinching back in surprise.

“—and he did _not_ appreciate me trying to leave before he woke up. I don’t know why, maybe the Japanese don’t really do, like the walk of shame?”

David takes a few deep breaths, channels his new therapist Sherice’s breathing exercises, and tries to keep himself from shaking his sister. “Alexis,” he says shakily, taking off his jacket and putting it over her small shoulders, “I don’t think it has anything to do with the Japanese, I just think this is a _yakuza mobster’s son_ and he’s probably got an ego the size of like, this whole city and you trying to walk out on him didn’t really reflect well for him.” 

She purses his lips in thought and replies, “Hm, that makes sense.”

He rolls her eyes and links his arms with her, and they start walking again, quicker than before now that he had a grasp on the situation. “Jesus can’t you sleep with normal people?”

Alexis scoffs, “What, like you and your little emo artist paramours?”

David blanches, face contorting and eyes squinting shut. “Ew, you sound like mom.”

She nods sadly. “Ugh, I know, she spent twenty minutes on the phone with me yesterday. I _don’t_ even know why, I just tuned her out. She was hysterical.”

“She’s _always_ hysterical, and thanks so much,” he replies sardonically. “She’s probably gonna call me tomorrow because her _darling daughter cannot be bothered from her adventurous continuances to entertain her dearest mother’s lamentations_.”

“Ugh, David, she’s gonna call you anyways. You’re definitely her favorite.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Yeah-huh,” she says, booping his nose again in punctuation.

David shakes his head as they make another turn around the store. “Ugh, we don’t have time for this. You are _literally_ on the run from the fucking _yakuza_ , so we need to leave the country as soon as possible.”

“Ugh, okay, well, let’s just loop around the store and go out the side exit.”

“Ok, I’ll tell Fabio to get a car for us and to get the jet ready.” David takes out his phone and texts Fabio the details, and then slides his phone back in his pocket.

“You took the family jet to Japan?” she asks, elongating her neck incredulously like some kind of ridiculous, high brow giraffe, and continues with a pout. “Ugh, mom and dad let you get away with _everything_.” 

“Let’s please remember that you’re not around enough for them to _let_ you get away with stuff.”

“Ugh, whatever, David,” she says sullenly as they exit the store and start walking towards the mall exit.

David looks at her in awe at her guilelessness. “None of us even _knew_ you were in Japan! I had to find out twenty minutes ago, when you texted me! And also,” he adds, now on a roll, “how the fuck did you know that I was here?”

“You posted on Instagram about your lunch,” she replies airily, “and I remember going there yesterday.”

“Ugh.”

“How were the cherry blossoms anyways?”

David frowns at the reminder of the nonexistent cherry blossoms. “Awful. There are none left, so I was gonna go home anyways.”

“Well, it’s probably for the best,” Alexis consoles. 

“Um, rude,” David replies, tilting his head scornfully. “I was really looking forward to them.”

“Well, I’m just saying David!” Alexis says loftily. “You would’ve been walking around looking at the cherry blossoms alone, like some kind of weird pervert.”

“Why would going alone to see cherry blossoms be _perverted_?” David asks, his voice pitching into a small shriek at the end.

They continue to squabble as they reach the exit, and all the while David has to fight back a smile. It feels good to be part of Alexis’s adventures for once, to be with her arm-in-arm again. And it feels good to be leading her to safety, to comfort and home.

* * *

  
**Five.**

_“As if I didn’t see this coming._ _He’s broken up with me five times already.  
_ _Like, there was that time that he never met me in Rio, and remember that time  
_ _that he gave me his ex-wife’s engagement ring? And then, last [winter], that time that  
_ _he left his molly in my glove compartment, and then I got arrested?”_

Alexis Rose: 27 years old | David Rose: 30 years old

David paces back and forth in the sterile tiled waiting room of the police department. The air is stifling, stinking of smoke and bleach and a rancid smell that he tries not to think about too much. 

He had been waiting for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes too fucking long. Every second that ticks by with Alexis behind bars is a second too long.

The inside heater and the panic had forced the coat off him, and he paces with his coat slung over his arm, with a shortness of breath and a panic building deep in his gut.

Suddenly he hears a voice, bright and loud. “David!”

He looks up and sees his sister for the first time in almost a year. Alexis looks, for lack of better words, _wrecked_. Her eyeliner is smudged, her hair a tangled mess of curls, and she wobbles on her stilettos as if she was a newborn baby deer. At the sight, David has to tamp down his anger simmering underneath his skin—at her for getting into the situation, at the stupid cops who arrested his little sister, at Stavros for leaving her alone.

At himself for leaving her alone.

The officer that leads her out, a stern-faced woman, continues with her official reprimands. “We’ve given you the conditions for your bail, Miss Rose, and we have your contact information.”

Alexis waves away the information as she walks away. “Yeah, I know, bye!”

She lurches forward, teetering on her six-inch heels, until she reaches him. She half-collapses on him in an attempt of a very uncoordinated hug, and David flounders at the extra weight before reaching around and patting her awkwardly on the back. 

He leans away from the hug and puts his coat around her, a warm heavy thing against her thin, slinky dress. 

Alexis pets the fur in awe and coos at him, “Thanks, David! Thank you soooo much!”

“Yeah, okay, let’s go,” he replies, and reaches his arm around to support her by the shoulders as they make their way out of the police department. She sways back and forth and stumbles a few times, and David is glad that he is there to catch her. 

They reach the car, and David opens the passenger-side door for Alexis. “Get in the car,” he mutters, even as he helps her inside and reaches around to click her seatbelt into place. He closes the door and walks around the car to the driver’s side, his boots crunching the fallen leaves on the ground.

He gets in the car and turns the ignition. The car heater switches on with a blast of cold air, and he turns the switch to turn the lights on.

And then he sits there, forehead to the steering wheel and tries to breathe through his anger, his worry, his _relief_ that his sister was now safe.

He senses Alexis fidgeting next to him, before she says, “Um, okay. Can you like, take a chill pill, David?”

He sits up at this, aghast at her gall. He stares at her incredulously and scoffs, “Take a chill pill? Alexis, I just paid $8,000 because you were in fucking jail for drug possession, so I’m not sure in what part of that sentence I’m supposed to take that chill pill!”

“Okay, it was all just like, a big misunderstanding. Stavros accidentally—”

“Stavros?!” Suddenly, he understands what it means to be seeing red. His hands clench around the steering wheel, and he huffs out an angry breath. 

Alexis looks out of the car window with a frown, still huddled underneath his coat. “Yeah, he accidentally left his molly in my glove box, okay? So like, it was just a forgetful thing.”

David, in the middle of putting on his seatbelt, fumbles at the sorry excuse. He glares at her as he finally clicks his seatbelt into place. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t _he_ bail you out, Alexis? It’s _his_ molly!”

Alexis purses her lips and looks down. She looks small under his heavy coat, smaller than he had ever seen her. “Um, well he wasn’t answering his phone. And then I called his assistant, and she like, didn’t know who I was. Maybe she’s new?”

David finally puts the car in reverse before speeding off. He grits his teeth against the seething anger simmering underneath his skin. He shakes his head at her weak excuses for him and asks in disbelief, “How many times is Stavros going to fuck you over before you dump him?”

He sees her glance at him sharply in his peripheral vision. “Um, first of all, he loves me. And we’re going to Greece next week so this whole thing wasn’t on purpose. And um, second of all? One word: Sebastien Raine.”

He tilts her head sarcastically and replies, “Um, first of all, that’s _two_ words. And second of all, at least he’s never left me in fucking jail.”

“Ugh, shut up David.”

“Yeah, whatever. How are you feeling?”

“Kinda like, wobbly? And um, my head hurts.”

David glances over at her quickly, lips pursed in worry, before he rubs her shoulder comfortingly. “Okay, well you’re staying at my hotel tonight. I have some Advil for the morning and we can get some room service, okay?”

Alexis visibly brightens, and she leans towards David and taps him multiple times with her limp-wristed hands. “Aww David, you love me so much!”

David recoils from the emotion, too unused to it to let it sit with him. So he rebuffs her with a white lie, an attempt to get her riled up. “Ew, what? I’m just feeling sorry for you because Stavros broke up with you by letting you stay in jail.”

“Stop it David! No he didn’t!” Alexis huffs adamantly.

“Sure, sure.” He sends a teasing smirk her way, and smiles at her tugging her ears in annoyance.

“Ugh! You’re such a dick, David!” 

They continue to squabble as he continues to drive towards his hotel for the night. Alexis is riled up now, voice high pitched in annoyance and hands waving about in her signature limp-wristed way. Normally it would annoy David to death, especially while driving, but he’s just happy that she seems revived and lively now. 

A quiet, diminished Alexis was a disturbing thing to see, and for all of her faults, David prefers her like this—pouting and whining and waving about, his wild sister.

  
  


* * *

  
**Plus One.**

_“When did you date Sebastien Raine?”_

_“They dated for like a month and a half and David got very upset about it.”_

_“Okay, it was almost three months, four if you include the month_ _that he was seeing other people. And you met him through me.”_

_“That’s nonsense. I met Sebastien Raine at an art opening years ago.”_

_“At my gallery. And can you please stop saying his full name? He’s a monster,_ _who uses people and leaves them for dead.”_

 _“I hate to play the contrarian, David, but The Times and I_ _both consider Sebastien Raine a dear friend.”_

 _“Remember when he dumped you? And you ate all those mall pretzels and_ _watched Bridget Jones’s Diary every day for a year?”_

_“It wasn’t a whole year, and I will not feel shame about the mall pretzels.”_

Alexis Rose: 27 years old | David Rose: 30 years old

Alexis turns the key, and hearing the click, grasps the doorknob and turns it, opening the door slowly. She squints in the darkness as she enters the apartment, and her fingers fumble against the wall until they find the light switch. After flipping the switch and watching the apartment flood with light, she enters and shuts the door behind her with a soft click. 

Setting down her bag on a dark modern-style console near the door, she creeps further into the apartment. “David?” she half-whispers, looking around at the sterile apartment. If she is being honest with herself, which she _always_ is, David’s apartments throughout the years have always looked boring to her. It was always minimalist and monochrome and other boring words that start with m, like...well, like minimalist and monochrome. _Oh, maybe modern_? she thinks to herself as she casts her eyes around the living room.

She doesn’t see a single movement, doesn’t hear a single thing.

And now she starts to worry. 

Just a little.

She knows fragile David can be sometimes. She remembers the break-ups of the past, how he would always cry for hours and write in his little journal and eat ice-cream in bed while watching some corny romcom movie.

But this seemed different. 

It might be due to the photos of David published in an art magazine, the ones that were shut down within a day due to Rose family lawyers actually doing their job. That coupled with David being publicly dumped by Sebastien? 

And of course, David didn’t say anything to Alexis. Didn’t reach out for like, a comforting shoulder or whatever. Didn’t reach out to talk shit about Sebastien. He just made all of his socials private and then disappeared. 

Which led Alexis to here, standing in David’s boring apartment calling out his name like he’s a little lost cat or something. 

Thankfully she still had her key from the last time she crashed at the apartment. David hadn’t wanted to give her a copy, so...she just took it. 

Which was really good for her, because now she can use it to make sure that David isn’t dying from heartbreak, the poor fragile thing.

She surveys the room, shrugging off her fur coat and tossing it against his couch. Everything still seemed in place, organized and neat, but this doesn’t surprise her. David doesn’t have screaming fits of despair like mom. He just curls up in a ball, quiet and small, and tries to disappear. 

_Which means_ …

She walks towards his bedroom door and opens it a crack. The bedroom is dark, heavy blackout curtains drawn shut. From the light seeping in from the open door, she can just barely see a lump underneath the heavy duvet covers.

She heaves a sigh and enters the room, shutting the door loudly behind her. Her heels echo against the hardwood floor, breaking the creepy stillness as she strides across the room to get to the window. “David, why is it so dark in here?” she asks loudly, hoping to get a response.

The lump stirs, and a pale arm unearths itself from the covers. The arm fumbles with the duvet until a bleary-eyed David is staring at her, confused. “Alexis?” he rasps, squinting in the darkness.

Alexis turns towards the window and opens the curtains with a swoosh, exposing the bedroom in a bright light. David groans immediately in protest, turning in bed to hide from the light of the outside.

Alexis ignores his protests and gestures outside the window. “Look David, it’s snowing! And it hasn’t turned into like, gross sludge yet. That’s...nice, isn’t it?”

“Shut the curtains,” he replies, covering his head in the comforter again.

Alexis tugs her ears in annoyance before walking over to the bed. She sits daintily on the side and pulls the comforter down, poking David on the shoulder. “Ugh, no, David. Get up.”

“I don’t want to,” he whines, eyes still closed. 

“Well that’s not really an option right now David. We have an appointment for a manipedi at Saks in a couple of hours.”

David peeks his eyes open and looks at her with a furrowed brow. “I don’t...remember _making_ that appointment.”

Alexis sighs impatiently at his slow uptake. “Hmm, that’s because _I_ made the appointment, David. So get up. We can get brunch and drinks at the Carlyle or something, and maybe walk around one of those little malls. You can,” she compromises, “even eat those gross mall pretzels.”

He sits up slightly, leaning against his elbows, and stares at her with that twisted expression that she remembers so well. “Why-why are you here, Alexis?” he asks, exasperated. 

She fidgets with the edge of his comforter, before looking up at him with a squinty, sympathetic expression. “Look, I heard about Sebastien.”

David collapses back into bed in a groan at the mention of his now ex. “Ugh, don’t even…”

“Get up and stop wallowing, David!”

“Alexis, he broke up with me _two days ago_.” He rolls back towards her, clutching the comforter against his chest like some sort of swooning romcom character. “Can you like, give me some time?”

“You just need to chill, David. It’s _not_ that big a deal.”

David fully sits up at this, lips twisted in an offended grimace, a look very familiar to her. “Not that big a—you know what, why, why are you even here? How did you even find out?”

“I saw Sebastien on Twitter with his new hottie, and I was in the neighborhood, so…”

She is one-hundred percent, completely lying. Stavros had flown her off to Italy for a fun little vacation—lots of booze, lots of parties on expensive yachts, lots of really hot sex in huge hotel rooms overlooking the gorgeous streets of Italy—and was _completely_ having like, so much fun partying with locals and eating _the most_ amazing food, when she saw Twitter. And Stavros was not happy _at all_ to cut the trip short, but she had to.

After all of the times that David has been there for her, she just...had to.

David looks at her softly, as if he could sense her lie, and replies, “Well, thanks I guess.”

Alexis clears her throat and her gaze flits around the room as she grapples to bring the discussion back to something not so sickly sweet and nice and _gross_. “And you know David, even though Sebastien like, dumped you for a younger, skinnier model—”

David’s soft look narrows into a sharper glare. “Is this supposed to be comforting?”

“—doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. There are like, so many people out there just dying to date a mid-30s gallerist who only wears sweaters.”

“Okay, I am not mid-30s, thanks very much, and I don’t know if any of that was supposed to _help_ , but...thanks for the sentiment. I guess.”

“You’re welcome, David!” she replies with a little squeal of delight. She boops him on the nose and continues with a little sexy shimmy, “Honestly, all you have to do is make cute eye contact with someone at a bar, and while you’re looking into their eyes, just take like, a very sexy sip of your drink. You’ll get yourself another hottie boom-bottie in no time!”

David’s nose wrinkles in annoyance and he rolls his eyes. “I’m not looking for a rebound, Alexis.”

“Well, I’m just saying,” she huffs with an annoyed hand wave, miffed at his dismissal, “it’s very easy to move on. You don’t have to wallow in bed in the dark like some type of creepy vampire. You have options.”

“Well, not everyone can bounce from international man to international man, Alexis.” David groans and gestures at her fiercely with waving hands. “Not everyone can just go from dating a Saudi prince to sleeping with a yakuza mobster’s son. Not everyone can just jump from country to country with no worries. I have responsibilities here, unlike you.”

Alexis ignores his pointed barb, even though it sends a tiny little wave of hurt through her. “Well, how are those responsibilities treating you right now, David?”

He sighs heavily, running his hands across his face, before turning to her with a serious expression. “Ugh...I’m just...I’m not in the mood right now, okay? Just leave, please.”

“No, David. Get up. It’s time to get up. Get up get up get up.” She punctuates each get up with a poke on the shoulder with limp-wristed hands. _If I have to annoy you to death to get you to get up, David, I will_ , she thinks fiercely to herself.

“Ugh, why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because where’s the fun in being alone?” she asks, genuinely confused.

“I’m not _trying_ to have fun, Alexis!” he shrieks, hands flying up on either side of his face in exasperation.

Alexis sighs in frustration at David’s resistance. _Okay, time for Serious Alexis to come out_ , she determines to herself. She reaches out and touches the top of David’s hand lightly in support and holds his gaze. “In my experience, David, the one thing you’re trying _not_ to do ends up being exactly what you need. Now get up.”

David meets her eyes, an unreadable look on his face. She squirms on the inside at his gaze, not used to the prolonged eye contact, but holds it anyways, sensing how important this moment was, for whatever reason. He then says softly, “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

“Nooope,” she says with a little smirk, head cocked out as she senses him finally getting on board.

He considers her for a moment more, before heaving a sigh and flipping the covers away from him. “Okay, but when we’re done, we’re eating cheese and watching Bridget Jones's Diary.”

Shaking her head slightly, she mutters with a small frown, “Um, very uninterested in that. Stavros has romantic plans later tonight, if you know what I mean.” She punctuates this with a very saucy wink.

David’s lips curl, and he asks loftily, “Um, I’m sorry, did _Stavros_ bail you out of jail last month?”

_Damn it_.

“Ugh, David!” she groans, leaning her head back and tugging her ears.

He cocks an eyebrow and reiterates, “Well, did he?”

“No, you did,” she replies with a pout.

David nods in an exaggerated manner at her response. “No, I did. So we’re gonna eat cheese and watch Bridget Jones’s Diary tonight.”

“Ugh, fine David, but I’m adding a lot of booze to this list if I have to watch romcoms with you.”

She pulls out her phone and adds it to her list—consisting of _manipedi_ , _brunch, mall pretzels?—_ as she watches him get out of bed. 

“That’s totally fine, I would prefer booze with my cheese,” he says, stretching slightly before walking over to his closet and ripping it open with a zeal to reveal an assortment of knits and cashmere, all in black and white.

“Ugh,” she groans, both at him and his boring wardrobe.

“Now get out of my room. I have to change,” he says, rifling through the closet for something to wear. 

_Even though it all looks exactly the same_.

“Don’t take too long David, we have an appointment,” she replies as she walks to the door, head buried in her phone as she searches for nearby places to get alcohol.

“Yeah, I know, you’ve told me. Now shoo, I need to do my skincare regimen if I’m seeing the light of day today.”

She walks out of the bedroom and folds herself on the white couch, tucking her heeled boots underneath her. As she scrolls through Instagram, she hears the familiar playlist blasting from the bedroom—starting with Tina Turner’s belting notes, reaching her ears through the heavy door. 

She smiles softly to herself as she waits. She knows—if he’s playing Tina Turner, he’ll be okay. And she would be here, just in case, to make sure of it.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I know that the molly story happens in the summer according to the show, but fuck it I really wanted that coat scene so I changed it to winter. OR you can pretend that for some reason, Alexis got arrested in Australia or New Zealand or something. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Kudos and comments keeps the writer chugging along!


End file.
